A blog dedicated to documenting my progression as a hobbyist, and my eternal indecision about what to paint next!

Betrayal: The Weekend. Part Three – Sunday

So… Day one didn’t go entirely to plan, did it? That didn’t worry me as Sunday rolled around and I munched happily on a Bacon and Sausage Roll in Bugman’s. Sunday would go better – the dice gods owed it to me, just as far owed me an army with no Terminators in it!

Turn One:
My force moves towards the Bastion with the hopes of getting as many characters in base contact with it as possible and securing some vital Victory Points while my Land Speeders immobilise the Contemptor with their Graviton Guns. My roll for the signal, after modifiers, is 19.

The Emperor’s Children reply is to target the closest Speeder with seven Krak Missiles. Four hit, two cause damage, I fail one Jink roll and my Speeder explodes in a ball of flame. Four Assault Marines fall to disciplined Bolter fire, and my opponent rolls a 9 for the signal – gaining me 2 Victory Points.

My remaining speeder loses its Multimelta, and my Eagle becomes Vector-locked. My Praetor is then unceremoniously killed, AGAIN, this time by a Power Fist. My opponent rolls a 12, securing another 2 Points for me.

Turn Three:
My Command Squad leap out from behind the Bastion and charge the Veterans that killed their boss, slaying four before Hit and Running out. A modified roll of 16 gives me quite a firm chance of getting more Points.

Two of my Command Squad are killed, and my opponent rolls a modified 16 for the signal, no points for anyone!

Turn Four:
The Command Squad charge the depleted Veterans, killing them before bouncing back to the Bastion. I then roll a signal roll of 10.

The Emperor’s Children move to get as much in contact with the Bastion as possible, a move that pays off as my opponent rolls a 12 and nabs himself some Victory Points.

Turn Five:
My Eagle disengages from the Battlefield, nothing else much happens. I’m looking a little thin on the ground now, as I roll 11.

My opponent is content to sit on the Bastion, rewarded by a roll of 14 and snatching away the lead from the Raven Guard.

Turn Six:
My Eagle flies back onto the board and opens up on the troops surrounding the Bastion, for little real gain. A roll of 11 is not good enough to beat my opponent’s roll of 12.

Turn Seven:
I really didn’t want Turn Seven…didn’t really want turn six, either… However, my Storm Eagle manages to destroy the Contemptor, vengeance for…well…me losing, perhaps? I roll a pitiful 4 to see if I get a signal off, cementing my failure in the last turn of the game as my opponent finishes off my Command Squad and rolls a 13 to secure Victory.

Result:
Raven Guard: 4
Emperor’s Children: 8

GAME 4: 3,000pts Doubles with Emperor’s Children vs Ultramarines and Salamanders

Turn One:TWO WARHOUNDS!! James and I were understandably cautious, as we advance our forces, our primary target the double Turbo Warhound. As we combine our fire (well, James fired and I hurled abuse) we managed to knock the beastie down to two Hull Points and a damaged Drive result.

The return fire was concentrated on James’ own Titan, knocking it down to two Hull Points but failing to destroy it, while I lost one speeder.

Turn Two:
My Eagles fail to arrive, while my Assault Marines and Speeders close in on the enemy. Most of our fire is ineffective, except for the Spartan that managed to (barely) kill the Turbolaser-packing Titan! Tough the explosion was pitifully small, we’d killed a Titan and taken First Blood in the act! We could rest a little easier knowing that there were two less D-Weapons on the board!

The enemy retaliation was swift and brutal, with me losing a two-Speeder Squadron and James’ Titan making a 4″ explosion as it, too, was gunned down by a Spartan. James also lost a Predator to a vengeful Land Raider, while my Assault Sergeant passed ten successive saves against Volkite weapons.

Turn Three:
One Eagle arrives and reduces the Titan to five Hull Points with its Lascannons and Multimeltas, while my Assault Marines Melta Bomb a Land Raider, destroying it, killing two Terminators snide and pinning them in place.

The enemy fight back, but only manage to kill a handful of Marines, a Contemptor and a Land Raider.

Turn Four:
My second Storm Eagle arrives while the first unloads its Tactical Marines. The Sergeant’s Combi-Melta knocks four Hull Points from the Titan and Immobilise it completely, before the Squad charge in and finish it off with Grenades, though it did not explode.

Now Titan-less, our opponents decided it was time for revenge. I bore the brunt of the enemy shooting, as I was closest. Much to my opponents’ horror, it seemed luck was with me as I failed almost no saves of any kind, except two – one costing me the hovering Eagle, the second costing me my last Assault Marine from the depleted unit.

Turn Five:
There wasn’t much left on the board that could do anything by this point, a few long-range shots were traded but very little was done by either side.

Turn Six:
My Assault Marines finish off the Terminators they were engaged against, while my Tactical Marines continue to exchange fire with another similar-sized unit through the Titan wreckage before my last Storm Eagle, battered and dented and having passed too many Jink saves, fell out of the sky dead – bringing the game to a close seven minutes before our five-hour time limit expired…

A hard fought, and very narrow victory…but I won a game! James claimed I did most of the work, but I think all I did was roll more dice as most of his force was tanks! You’ll also notice, my Praetor didn’t die! This isn’t because he and his friends weren’t in the list, rather because I placed him cunningly behind James’ Land Raiders and forgot all about them until turn five… Oops…

We handed in our final results, and waited for the ceremony. None of us expected any awards, I got my hopes up when Most Heroic Action was awarded to a Raven Guard player, but alas it was the other guy with his Contemptor. Ah well, Apothecary Damias is still a hero in my book!

Remember Rob’s Salamanders? Well, he entered this guy into the Painting Competition:

…And won Best Singe Miniature! Go Rob!

It was then that the most important award was given out. Who had one the campaign? Who were The Righteous Heirs? The victors?

Well…

Take that, Horus! the Loyalists, despite a Day One deficit of man points, narrowly lost their lead after Game Three, only to trail far further behind at the event’s conclusion!

Overall, it was a very enjoyable event! Though I enjoy gaming, regardless of setting, I think we all found this so much better than Throne of Skulls! Everyone was nice oboes was ass-y or stressed out, and what is more, every army was painted to a high standard! Not something you see often at tournaments! I will definitely be attending the next Heresy Weekend they do!

Well… That is all for this entry, return later this weekend for my first thoughts on new Codex: Space Marines!

Fair enough, probably not for a while yet then, I’ve got enough hobby to be getting on with…just out of interest, were all the models off Forge World, or were some plastic? Just wondering in regards to cost…